


The Academic

by thighloren



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, College AU, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Frat Boy Kylo Ren, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Kylo Ren is a punk bitch, Slow Burn, Star Wars Modern AU, fuckboy kylo ren, kylo ren is a fuckboy, kylo ren kinda sucks, star wars college au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:34:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thighloren/pseuds/thighloren
Summary: A modern college AU for the Star Wars saga. You are a third year English student at Coruscant University who recently took on a job as a TA for your favorite professor, Dr. Lando Calrissian. You had to admit that you were nervous to do this job, but you had no idea that it meant meeting possibly the worst person you'd ever met: an infamous frat boy named Kylo Ren. He gets off on taunting you and seeing you angry, and you have no idea how you'll put up with him for an entire semester. Things change when his grades start slipping, and you have to spend extra time outside of class to tutor him and help him improve his perfomance. Suddenly, he's not the nasty, rude boy who scoffed at you on the first day of class. Suddenly, he's someone new: he's someone you actually like.
Relationships: Kylo Ren & Reader, Kylo Ren/Original Character(s), Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s), Kylo Ren/Reader, Kylo Ren/You
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I have been wanting to write a Kylo Ren college AU for a while now, so I finally decided to test drive this fanfic idea. Please feel free to leave me some feedback in the comments, I'm always happy to improve my work. This chapter is just to set up the existing dynamic between you, the reader, and your environment. This is your first time meeting Kylo, and you absolutely hate this guy at first. But don't worry: the fun will start soon enough ;) That being said, I hope you enjoy some Academic Reader/Frat Boy Kylo Ren!

A chill was sent through the palm of your hand as the iced coffee you were carrying began to bead sweat in the thick August heat. You clutched it tightly, taking a sip every so often as you walked across campus to Amidala Hall. There was a slight breeze that tousled the leaves on the trees, conducting a quiet chorus of ambient sound. There were students in all directions of you, walking, sitting, chatting, playing frisbee. The semester had just begun, and Coruscant University was alive. You enjoyed seeing it like this; you’d spent the summer here taking a few classes, and you were happy to see some excitement brought back on campus. It was generally dead during the summer𑁋 you guessed that most people weren’t so desperate to graduate as quickly as possible like you were.  
As you walked up the steps and swiped your keycard to enter the building, your heart started to pound. You’d taken a job as a TA for your favorite professor, Dr. Calrissian, for his Topics in Business Writing 300 level class. You previously had him in the spring for your second semester of British Literature, and you really liked him: he was knowledgeable, laid-back, well read, and hilarious as all hell. You were honored that he’d asked you to be his TA, especially working with students within your own year; normally he’d want a senior to take on the job. His expectations of you were high, and you knew that. Being a TA for a fifty person class was no small feat, and you had to be on the ball at all times.  
Honestly though, you were just praying to make it through your first day.  
You were about fifteen minutes early to the class, and Dr. Calrissian was sitting at his desk getting his PowerPoint for the day ready. You knocked softly on the oak door, and he instantly perked up, offering you a huge grin.  
“Hey!” he cheered, waving at you from his chair. “How was your summer? It’s good to see you again.”  
“Oh you know,” you laughed shyly, “I took a couple of classes, so I never really left campus. So, it was alright. Yours?”  
“Pretty good, pretty good,” he smiled at you. The two of you continued to catch up, filling each other in on any major life updates.  
“By the way, thank you so much for choosing me as a TA. It’s really an honor, Doc.”  
“Of course! You were always very bright and quick in Brit Lit, I know you’ll be just the same in here. Don’t get too stressed about the business aspect of this course, it’s no different from your basic rhetoric and technical stuff. If a business major can understand it, you certainly can,” he chuckled.  
That did put you at ease, you’d been stressing all summer about assisting a business course as an English major. You barely knew how a business was supposed to operate, you didn’t know how the hell you were going to teach about them.  
There was a small desk for you at the front, situated in the opposite corner from Dr. Calrissian’s desk𑁋 this meant all eyes on you at all times. Your outfit seemed professional enough, though: a dark plaid skirt, a black short sleeve turtleneck, and some low-heeled slip ons. The thought of looking sloppy next to Calrissian, who was always dressed to the nines, was the least of your worries at the moment. Getting settled in at your desk, you opened up your laptop to the PowerPoint that was being projected on the screen next to you; you also took out a spiral notebook and a pen, just in case you needed to take any notes.  
Students started filing in shortly after you sat down, beginning to occupy the lecture hall starting from the back of the room. That was a move you never understood; if you were paying so much money for all of these classes, why would you choose to sit where you couldn’t even follow the lecture? Bizarre.  
You didn’t pay much attention to who was entering into the room, you’d figure everyone out soon enough. Catching your breath and getting your bearings seemed like a more pressing matter as Dr. Calrissian began to saunter to the front of the room, taking his place at the podium. The background chatter of the class fell to a hush as he began to address the students before him.  
“Good morning, thank you for all being here on time. I’m Dr. Lando Calrissian, I’ve been teaching at Coruscant for the last ten years now. I see some familiar faces in the room,” he smirked as his eyes scanned everyone’s faces. He was right, you recognized a couple of people from British Literature, as well as one from a poetry workshop. “Plus plenty of new ones. Now I’d like to introduce your lovely TA,” he gestured to you, saying your name to the room. “She’s absolutely brilliant, and I hope you all enjoy working with her as much as I do.”  
You stood up, smoothing your skirt and waving to the room. “Hi,” you reiterated your name. “I’m an English major with minors in creative writing and journalism, I’m in my third year at Coruscant.”  
That was when you heard a small scoff from the crowd. Your eyes immediately darted to the culprit: a boy dressed in a white shirt with some Greek letters on the pocket, his dark hair loosely framing his face. He grinned sarcastically, running his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip. Great, you though. Already getting antagonized by a frat boy. With that, you sat back down in your chair, somewhat sulking behind your laptop screen. Dr. Calrissian thanked you for introducing yourself, but you weren’t really paying attention. The next few seconds of him talking sounded like a dull buzz to you, until he started calling roll. With each name, you looked to who shouted “here” to make sure you’d remember their faces.  
“Koska Reeves?”  
“Here.”  
Dr. Calrissian’s rhythm suddenly stopped, and his voice faltered a little bit.  
“Kylo Ren?”  
“Here.” It was him, the guy who laughed at you. He shot you a shit-eating grin. You rolled your eyes slightly, knowing that you’d certainly not forget his face. What stood out to you the most, though, was how Calrissian said his name. It was almost like he was feeling the same sense of impending dread as you were.  
Dr. Calrissian continued on with the roll call, and eventually got on with his first lecture. You made a note every so often of a due date or policy that you’d need to keep in mind while you worked with the class, and it seemed like he wasn’t going easy on the business kids at all. You didn’t remember British Literature being this tedious. At the end of class, he introduced the first major assignment: a rough draft of an analysis of a business model they’d studied in a previous class, or that they saw in real life. You were definitely going to need a detailed rubric for this one, since you had no earthly idea of what he was talking about. The rough draft was due next Friday though, and it was only Monday, so you had time to figure things out. Dr. Calrissian dismissed the class, and the students quickly leapt up out of their seats to file out of the door that was near your desk. You glanced down at your laptop, quickly checking your email before packing it in your bag.  
“Hey,” you heard a low, humored voice speak next to you. You looked up only to find Kylo Ren, smirking down at you like he was trying to stifle a laugh. There was a red-haired boy next to him, dressed similarly, carrying the same expression. “Nice to meet you.”  
The two hissed a small laugh as they exited into the hallway, and you felt your face get hot. You started remembering times you’d seen him around campus: cutting you in line at the dining hall, nearly running you over in his black BMW, and harassing you and the student organization you helped lead whenever you tried to hold any event on campus.  
Your organization, Resistance, was an on-campus social justice group that volunteered at different non-profits around the city, led protests, and helped establish on campus education of different humanitarian issues. You’d been a member since your freshman year, and you were elected to a leadership position over your class, along with your friend Finn. Resistance often butted heads with the Greek life on campus, but especially the frat that Kylo was a member of. They’d stop at nothing to try and have your events, no matter what or when they were, sabotaged. You had no idea what they had against you guys, but you were not excited to work with a member of that frat.  
After saying bye to Calrissian, you left Amidala Hall and started walking to the dining hall to grab some lunch. That’s when you noticed your friends from Resistance all sitting at some tables in the shade, eating lunch together and soaking in the start of the fall semester. They waved you over, and you obeyed, happily going to them.  
“Hey guys!”  
“Hey!” they all called out, standing up to hug you. You hadn’t seen any of them since the spring, and it was a relief to be with them once again. Finn came up to you and wrapped you in his arms tightly, resting his chin on your shoulder.  
“How was this summer?” he whispered in your ear.  
“Fine,” you whispered back.  
“Really?”  
“Really.”  
He was always so concerned about you, and he was the only person you’d ever truly confided in about your home life. He understood you and never judged you, and it was nice to know he had your back. As he pulled away, your dear friend Rose ran happily to your side, practically throwing herself on you. You embraced her, rubbing her back.  
“We’re just sitting down,” she said, looking up at you. “You should join us! We missed you like crazy.”  
“I missed you guys too. I’ll just run in and grab something and I’ll be right out,” you smiled, setting your backpack into one of the chairs.  
You went merrily into the cafeteria, flashing your student ID to be admitted. You were so happy to see your friends that you’d entirely forgotten that you were in a sour mood just a few minutes ago. That was, until, you locked eyes with Kylo Ren from across the cafeteria. He was sitting at a booth with four other guys, and he shot you one of his classic condescending glares. He even had the nerve to wink at you, which set you over the edge. Normally, you’d treat yourself to one of the fresh-made options in the cafeteria on the first day. However, you wanted to get out of that room as soon as possible, so you opted for a prepackaged sandwich and a bottle of water from the cooler. You nearly ran back outside to the tables where your friends were, and you guess your facial expression let everyone know that you were suddenly very unhappy.  
Your friend Poe moved your backpack for you to sit, and furrowed his brow when he saw your face. “Whoa, did someone like, punch you in there?”  
“No, but he may as well have,” you grumbled, slamming down your sandwich and drink.  
“Who?”  
“Kylo fucking Ren.”  
There was an assortment of grumbles of understanding passed around the table. You assumed they’d heard his name before, which made sense considering your organization’s longstanding feud with his frat. You had to wonder how you’d been graced with not knowing who he was until today.  
“What a douchebag,” Rey yawned, her chin resting in her hand. She looked absolutely exhausted, and her eyelids started to droop down. Checking your watch, you noticed that it was only one o’clock.  
“Why are you so tired, Rey?” Rose asked, taking a bite of an apple.  
“Because I’m a dumbass who thought an electrical engineering class at eight in the morning was a brilliant idea.”  
You all continued to talk and catch up, each of you telling stories of the wildest things that happened to you over the summer. Yours was pretty lackluster, considering the most exciting thing you’d done was go to Ihop at two in the morning by yourself after working on a final paper for one of your summer classes. Poe, though, told an elaborate story of a highway race he’d found himself involved in with a little Honda Civic on his way home from work one night.  
“C’mon Poe,” Finn laughed. “That did not happen.”  
“I swear it did!”  
You all finished your lunches and parted ways, and you had to run to a two-thirty class across campus in Ninety-Nine Hall; you had no idea why it was never given an official name. Or maybe it did have one, but it got nixed because everyone ended up characterizing it by the giant blue “99” on the side of the building. The class was an open studio required for your creative writing minor, so there wasn’t much of a curriculum structure you had to be super worried about. You spent most of the class time bantering with some of your acquaintances in the class, trying to come up with a collaborative piece you could all submit for the final.  
The rest of your day was pretty quiet, you just worked on one of your online classes in the library. You only had three in person classes for the semester and one online asynchronous class, which knocked a lot of stress about time off of your shoulders. Over the years you’d become disciplined in making yourself do all of your work at a fast pace, so you were planning on having this course finished before the semester was technically over. It was just a sports journalism course, so you didn’t anticipate it being too difficult.  
Arriving back at your dorm around eight, you slung your backpack on your chair and flopped down onto your bed. The room was decorated exactly how you wanted to be; it’d taken you years to hone in on your style, and you were really proud of how the place turned out. You were also happy to have gotten a private room for the year since your scholarship covered it. All you had to worry about was sharing a bathroom with somebody, but that wasn’t too big of a deal to you.  
You rolled over and picked up your phone from your nightstand, deciding to spend the rest of the night vegging out. You didn’t have too many notifications𑁋 mostly emails and likes on various social media sites. One notification did stand out to you, though: a new follower on Instagram; their username was “princeren.” You squinted to look at the profile picture, and saw a boy with floppy dark hair, shirtless against a brick background with a beer in his hand. This asshole, you thought. You felt like you were being electrocuted, you were so angry at him. He spent what felt like the whole day taunting you and making you feel bad about yourself, and now he has the gall to follow you on Instagram? You were pissed. You sat up and frowned at your phone for what seemed like ages. You considered blocking him, but you didn’t want to start any sort of drama in class. So, you allowed him to keep following you, but you swore to not reciprocate.  
The image of him sitting in his frat house, stalking your profile and laughing as he went, made you irrationally angry. Not wanting to let your emotions get the best of you, you put your phone down and decided to put on your favorite TV show. Watching the characters soothed you so much that you wound up drifting off to sleep, the TV still playing as you slumbered.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is a little belated, my schedule got pretty crazy for a while. But it should start to slacken soon enough! I'll post more regularly, whether people read it or not :)

The next two weeks went on without a hitch𑁋 a hitch being a significant interaction with Kylo, that is. Of course, you still felt his eyes seering into you during class whenever you stood to talk to the students, or hand out material. You sensed his gaze wherever you went, even if he wasn’t in the room with you. Nervousness or anxiety around him wasn’t necessarily the issue there; moreso, it was a deep displeasure at the knowledge of his existence. But, you continued to make your presence known on campus, figuring that your education and happiness were more pressing than him staring at you.

You only had to worry about going to Dr. Calrissian’s class on Mondays and Wednesdays though, so you didn’t have much opportunity to see Kylo outside of class time. It was a pretty big university, after all. On the Thursday before the business model analysis was due, you swung by Dr. Calrissian’s office at his request to grade some of the smaller assignments that had been given throughout the four classes: pop quizzes and discussion board posts, mostly. You brought a couple of coffees for Calrissian and yourself, remembering that you both had the exact same coffee order. That made being courteous much easier, you thought.

You settled on a small black couch in his office, your laptop sitting on your thighs as you leaned back and sipped your coffee. Dr. Calrissian decided that he’d take on grading the pop quizzes while you managed the discussion board posts. The two of you were quiet for some time as you worked𑁋 you both had a good deal of work to sift through, afterall. Eventually, you decided to break the silence.

“So,” you started. “Kylo Ren. Did you know him before last week?”

Dr. Calrissian let out a deep sigh as he put down his pen. “I did, yeah. At least, I thought I knew him. Why, did you?”

“No, not exactly. My friends apparently knew of him, and I’ve had plenty of run ins with his frat during my time in Resistance; but I didn’t have the pleasure of actually meeting him until last Monday.”

“Yeah, I worked with his parents back in the 80’s𑁋 we actually helped operate an organization similar to yours, but it was called the Rebellion. It was during the time of the Empire, and we advocated for the liberation of the countries who were being controlled by it,” Dr. Calrissian leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. “Anyways, Han and Leia𑁋 Kylo’s parents𑁋 were good buddies of mine. Kylo used to go by Ben, and I would watch him sometimes when he was little. His parents were divorced by the time he got into high school, and he developed these awful anger issues. Leia’s brother trying to butt into his life so much didn’t help either. He started working a lot, graduated, moved out, and changed his name. I was sort of shocked that he’d decided to come to Coruscant for school, and I was floored when he signed up for my class.”

“Oh,” you said, unsure of what to make of all of this information.

“What, is he giving you trouble or something?” Dr. Calrissian shifted his position, placing his elbows on his desk, furrowing his brow.

“Huh? Well yeah𑁋 I mean no, I guess he sort of is,” you stumbled. “It’s just that he stares at me all the time and laughs every time I open my mouth. It’s nothing serious, I promise.”

“He’s always done that, that little brat. Listen, if it gets worse you let me know, okay? I have no problem with confronting him.”

“Yeah, thanks. I’m sure it won’t get any worse.”

“Let’s hope.”

The conversation dropped off after that, and you got back to the discussion posts you were grading. You finished shortly afterwards, and let Dr. Calrissian know that you were gonna head out for the day. The two of you said goodbye, and you left his office for the day.

The sun started to set while you were in the office, and you looked down at your watch that read 6:45.  _ Shit,  _ you thought. You’d completely forgotten that the student organization fair was tonight, and you were supposed to hang out at the Resistance booth with Finn from 7:00 to 9:00. Since the quad where the fair was being held was all the way across campus from where you were, you started to quicken your pace to get there on time.

You made it with just minutes to spare, and you got to say bye to Poe and Kaydel as they ended their shift at the booth. Finn wrapped you in a hug, as he usually did, before you both sat down at the booth. You had enough money in the organization’s budget to give out pins and cookies to everyone who signed up to come to the information meeting, so people naturally flocked to your booth. The night moved quickly as people came in droves to the fair; it was mostly first year students, with bright eyes and big dreams. You silently wondered how long it would take before university life broke them. Between conversations, you looked out at the wide, green space before you. There were so many other booths going to various lengths to attract new organization members, and you noticed a group of guys playing frisbee in the middle of the field. They all had the typical fraternity brother look: knee-length shorts, baseball caps, the works. They were too far away for you to make out who anybody was, but you definitely got the frat boy vibe from them.

While you were writing down the contact info of a prospective Resistance member, you heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the table.

“C’mon, you really don’t want to join in with  _ these _ weirdos. We’ll show you how to actually have a good time.” You looked up, and there he was in all of his douchebag glory. He wore a crewneck sweater with his Greek letters embroidered over the breast, as well as a silver chain on his neck. His raven hair moved as he spoke, and he slapped a hand on the back of the boy you were recruiting. The boy shot you an awkward look, and was too dumbfounded to say anything. So were you.

“Ren, will you please get back to encouraging alcohol poisoning at your booth?” Finn barked at him.

“As soon as you stop encouraging brain rot at yours,” Kylo laughed, glaring at Finn. You and your friend shot each other an annoyed look, and you could feel Kylo’s smirk creeping up on his face.

“Kylo, seriously. Not the time,” you grumbled, scribbling down the last few digits of the new member’s number.

“See you at the first meeting,” the boy shyly said as he left. You groaned, feeling terrible that he’d been scared off by Kylo. You shot a deadly look up at him, crossing your arms. 

“So, getting many recruits?” He slapped his huge, veiny hands down on your table as he leaned closer to the two of you. He was wearing a flashy watch𑁋 you were sure it was a real Rolex by the looks of it.

“Yeah, we are, thanks,” Finn bit into him, shuffling some papers on the table angrily.

“Kylo,” you began. “You know you have a paper due tomorrow, right?”

“Don’t worry about it, baby, I have it all under control,” he winked at you, chuckling a little bit. You felt your cheeks start to burn, and you turned your face away from him.

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Yeah, don’t call her that,” Finn stood up, his chair sliding out from behind him.

“Oh sorry, would you prefer ‘honey’ or ‘sweetheart?’” He leaned in closer to you, and you turned to meet his stare. You wanted so badly to spit on him, slap him, do something to make him get away from you.

“Kylo, please just leave me alone.”

The two of you continued to lock eyes for what seemed like a lifetime; your face never fell from its anger, and his from a look of condescension. He hit the table once with his right hand, the harsh sound making you jump.

“I’ll see you later, then,” he snatched a cookie out of the box on the table as he started to leave, never breaking eye contact with you as he took the first bite. He turned around eventually, jogging back over to where the guys were all playing frisbee. You had to assume they were his fraternity brothers, it was never a good idea to get guys from two different organizations to hang out; it always ended in a black eye or a broken nose.

“Unbelievable,” Finn muttered. He apologized and asked if you were alright, and you assured him that you were. He rubbed your shoulder sympathetically, sitting in silence with you until the next person walked up to the booth. The rest of the night seemed to go by relatively quickly, save for the few times you happened to glance over and catch Kylo looking at you from afar. Each time you caught him, you felt sick to your stomach. You didn’t want to leave Finn alone at the booth, though, so you pushed through the discomfort for the rest of the night.

Once it hit 9:00, you and Finn were both ready to turn in. The two of you quickly packed up everything from the table, and hugged each other goodbye. Dinner had completely slipped your mind for the night, but luckily you had some cookies left over that you could snack on before bed. After making it into your dorm, you sat down at your desk, taking out a cookie to eat while you looked at your phone. You noticed a new DM on Instagram, and you instantly rolled your eyes once you saw who it was from.

_ Had a great time seeing you at the fair tonight ;) _

You groaned and began to type out a reply.

_ Will you please fuck off? I don’t want to talk to you. Don’t contact me unless it’s something about Calrissian’s class. _

_ “Fuck off?” That’s no language that should be coming from a social justice warrior. You should be ashamed of yourself,  _ he added your name on the end of your message, which felt even more disgusting than anything else he’d typed out. You couldn’t even hear him audibly saying your name, but it still pissed you off.

_ I’m serious. Stop talking to me. And turn in your paper. _

_ Will do, sweetheart, _ he sent with a heart at the end of the message. 

You felt nauseous, and went to lay down on your bed. Staring up at the ceiling, you pinched the bridge of your nose in perpetual discomfort. Every interaction you’d had with him up to this point kept flashing into your mind, and they wouldn’t leave you alone. You had to do something about Kylo, but you didn’t know what. He hadn’t done enough for you to file a report against him, but he  _ had _ done enough to make you want to pull your hair out. This needed to be resolved quickly if you were going to be seeing him for the rest of the semester. You considered enlisting Dr. Calrissian’s help, but figured that may not get much accomplished. Thoughts continued to toil in your head, eventually following you into your sleep.


End file.
